Chaos in the City of Progress
by AirJinKa
Summary: Taking place in the world of the game League of Legends, this story begins where the others end: Caitlyn and Vi arrest Jinx, who had returned to turn upside down Piltover, the City of Progress. But the wheels of a cumbersome plan are moving behind the scenes and a new character makes his appearance, putting everyone in danger.
1. Chapter 1

**Chaos in the City of Progress** **1/3**

" _Well, I was in Zaun, get it? And then this guy came up to me doing so many compliments to me and Fishbones. And he too could hear his voice. And he said he would give me so many other speaking weapons if I had done something for him…"_

«Let me go!»

The long electric blue braids of a young girl trembled as crazy as she shook her head left and right, surging wildly in a vain attempt to break free. She slammed her feet on the ground, angrily, but her temperament was not weakening the strong grip of the mechanical gloves around her shoulders, nor loosened the handcuffs tight to her wrists.

«Stop messing around! It's only your fault if you are in this bad situation now.»

«At least my hands are not oily like yours» said the girl, arrogantly.

Vi raised an eyebrow. Patience had never been one of her virtues, unlike irascibility, which prevented her to endure the teasing.

«It's better for you if you stop, cutie» she said, gritting her teeth.

«I'm cute! I'm cute!» crooned Jinx. Her leather boots were beating rhythmically on the street, moving pieces of asphalt and concrete, incinerated by the recent explosions she had caused.

«You heard, Fishbones?» the question was directed to the rocket launcher with which she had devastated a small district in Piltover. The weapon was left on the ground after she had been captured, but Jinx had the illusion of having its attention when she saw that the gun was directed toward her.

«Fathands said I'm pretty. Instead, she is ugly and her pink hair are disgusting» continued the girl, laughing hysterically.

«Stupid! Idiot! Moron! Let me go!» she shouted after a sudden change of mood.

Tired of the provocations, Vi loosened her grip and raised a hand to hit her captive.

«Stop, now!» commanded the authoritative voice of the town sheriff. She had just arrived after ensuring the capture of that reckless hoodlum, disarming Jinx with one shot of her sniper rifle.

«Are you listening or not, Cupcake? She doesn't stop provoking me. I can't stand it anymore! »

Caitlyn sighed, resigned to see that Vi was similar to Jinx from many respects. She was short-tempered, always ready for action and a bit childish. Luckily, she wasn't equally crazy.

«Get her in the cell and you won't need to listen to her anymore» ordered the sheriff of Piltover: «But first let me ask her a question».

Everybody had already left that place. Most citizens had run away after the first explosions and people trapped in half-destroyed buildings had been rescued by a fleet of drones. Thin columns of black smoke danced sinuously while silently ascended to the sky.

Caitlyn's gaze moved over the rubble of the white marble fountain, which until a few minutes before was merrily spurting in the middle of the small square, now deserted. The wooden benches were incinerated and almost all the surrounding buildings bore scars: smiles awkwardly painted with spray paint, writings as _"Jinx was here!"_ or _"Cops suck!"_ created by several bullets fired at the walls,

huge holes caused by the explosions of missiles and grenades.

Only one building had not been damaged. It was a small red brick building, with a wooden door black painted. There were no glasses in the windows, but strong steel bars prevented the entrance to anything larger than a stray cat.

«Why didn't you shoot here? » Caitlyn asked, with an inquisitive tone.

Jinx understood that the question was directed at her, but she said nothing. She lowered her head and began to giggle softly. Vi dragged her by force next to her companion, ordering to respond. Nothing to do: the girl was too stubborn. If she knew anything she wouldn't easily revealed it.

«Vi, why don't you break into pieces that rocket launcher? Jinx won't need it in jail.»

Hearing those words, Jinx looked up quickly. Her wide eyes seemed to shout: _"You would not really do that ?!"_ but the ice look of the sheriff contained an adamant and determined _"Yes"_.

«Hey! Hey! Wait a minute!» said Jinx, even before Vi had a chance to get close to her precious weapon: «I can tell you something, but don't hurt Fishbones» implored.

Pleased that her threat had had the desired effect, Caitlyn approached the handcuffed girl. She noticed that her red eyes glowed with burning frenzy as she told why she returned to bring chaos in Piltover.

«Well, I was in Zaun, get it? And then this guy came up to me doing so many compliments to me and Fishbones. And he too could hear his voice. And he said he would give me so many other speaking weapons if I had done something for him…»

Jinx told everything in one breath, quickly and without pauses. Her speech was very hard to follow, moreover it could have easily been a series of whoppers chained hastily. But why the red brick building had not even a scratch?

«Well, now that you have been taken, you won't have speaking weapons anyway» pointed out Vi, highlighting that Jinx's vandalism had been reckless and senseless.

The blue haired girl became thoughtful, then she laughed at that: «But it was funny! » she said.

Caitlyin was thinking in silence, watching the closed door and the barred windows. Inside it was dark and no sound came from the building. It was not too late when the sheriff saw an orange glow in the dark forcefully make his way out, and she heard a roaring low rumble under her feet.

«Get down!» she shouted.

The wooden door was unhinged by a powerful explosion. Tongues of fire, red and hot, fluttered in the wind while ashes and debris were scattered all around. The building looked like a demon, who was regurgitating huge amounts of flaming black smoke and hot dust.

Vi got up quickly. She noticed that Jinx was still lying on the ground, upset after the

huge explosion, and thought that there wasn't the risk that she run away. She moved to

her companion and helped her up.

«What the hell happened?» asked.

The sheriff of Piltover shook her head.

Did not know.

«I'm fine, Vi. Calm down» she said,

firmly clutching her rifle in the hands.

Vi nodded. Walked towards the

entrance of the small smoking

building and looked inside: fire, smoke and dust. She saw nothing else. Lifted up one of her great

hands to protect the eyes from the heat, then she turned.

«It must have been a bomb placed there by that madwoman» she said, nodding at Jinx: «That's why she didn't shoot here. It was a trap! Luckily there was no one inside».

Finished the sentence, Vi felt a sharp pain in her left side. She looked down: a small spike was stuck up to the kidney. The wound began to bleed, but she instinctively turned around to see who had hit her. With the mechanical gloves raised she blocked the huge bullet directed towards her, but the explosion still jolted her many meters back. She impacted violently to the ground with her back and gasped, trying to catch her breath.

After a few seconds, the attention of Caitlyn, Jinx and Vi was captured by the sound of heavy footsteps coming from the building on fire. All the three looked toward the entrance, where until a few minutes before it was the black door, quietly tightened. A huge figure emerged from the smoke. Its iron shoulders were too broad to pass from that small opening, so the lintel and the door frame were brutally demolished.

A simple look was not enough to describe that monstrosity. It seemed a common exoskeleton, with automated parts that completely covered the back and the limbs of a human. But the bald, middle-aged man, dressed in a white coat full of rips and burns, was unconscious. His body was wrapped in a tangle of wires travelled by electric shocks. On its back one could have seen two things: a bulky cylindrical container and a mechanical tentacle, a kind of grotesque, long artificial neck. At its end, an expressionless robotic face was watching the scene with detached interest.

Caitlyn stood up, braced her rifle and fired. She had no time to think if it was the man to control the robot's actions, she only knew that it was a threat to Piltover which must be stopped.

That human-made freak reacted, instantly raising its right arm. From the long barrel mounted on the forearm was fired another bullet, that intercepted the one shot by the sheriff. Its ability to react and its accuracy left Caitlyn speechless.

Surprisingly, the creature didn't attack. His attention was focused elsewhere. The automated head was looking towards Jinx and Vi, one still handcuffed and another wounded, both laid on the ground.

«Humans. Are. Food» declared a rough metallic voice.

The robot was advancing toward them, heedless of the shots that Caitlyn kept firing at him, all easily intercepted. When he was close enough, he held out his left hand to Jinx's neck.

He withdrew it, and immediately jumped back as just felt the globe of electricity that had been hurled at it.

The bald man's body was still inert, although his flesh was torn apart from electric shocks becoming more frequent, but the mechanical head angrily looked at the two people who had just made their appearance.

To protect Jinx rose up a black boy, both sides of the head were shaven, leaving a strip of noticeably longer hair in the center. In the hand, he clutched a clock hand that he had stolen from a clock tower in Piltover.

In front of Vi was silhouetted a more robust man, with short, neat beard and a square jaw, clenched in anger. His hammer was ready to talk for him.

On the surface, the two were one the opposite of the other. Yet, without knowing it, they had something in common. Both turned to the girl they were there to help, and both showed off a warm, reassuring smile.

«Have no fear» they said: «For I have come».


	2. Chapter 2

**Chaos in the City of Progress** **2/3**

 _«The boy activated the Z-Drive and, in a moment, grew old. Deeply marked by the experience he just lived, that only he had the power to prevent»_

«Interesting! More. Food.»

The eyes of the robotic head were reduced to two small slits, and though the corners of its iron mouth remained motionless, that unnatural look showed some sort of perverse pleasure.

The creature had distanced itself from the two newcomers and was preparing to attack.

The cables exposed on its chest, intricate as the most disorganized cobwebs, shone with a dim blue light when they were crossed by powerful electric shocks, visible to the naked eye.

«Help...» whispered a voice.

A weak invocation, almost imperceptible, which went unnoticed as the smoke of a match lost in the wind. No one had heard the voice of the man tangled in the cables.

The robot raised its left arm and pointed at Ekko a big gun. To it was connected a tube of hard plastic, attached itself to the cylindrical container mounted on the back. First he fired a large, sharp harpoon, then a block of debris and wreckage, coarsely compressed among them.

The boy rolled to the side to dodge the first attack, then rushed bravely to intercept the second, rejecting it with his bat as the most experienced batsman. A drop of sweat marked vertically the white hourglass tattooed on his face.

Meanwhile, the fire continued to flare up in the house behind the mechanical monster, completely indifferent to high temperatures. Its long, spiky shadow loomed colossal on the square, making that figure even more threatening.

«Food. Too. Much. Raw. Roast!»

The automaton pointed its left arm toward Jinx and instantly fired an explosive shot. The same that had thrown away Vi a little earlier.

That attack could not be diverted.

Ekko barely had time to turn the head: his straight hairs were pushed back by the shockwave that followed the blast, while the thin body of his friend was devoured by a sea of raging fire. The gentle curves of her had disappeared behind the thick blanket of smoke that enveloped the scene like a curtain of compassionate mercy. Glimpses of smoky cloth were drilled by the flames, as ruthless as the monster which had created them.

But the boy would not lose another person he cared about. Never again.

He activated the Z-Drive and, in a moment, grew old. Deeply marked by the experience he just lived, that only he had the power to prevent. He would not live in a time without her.

«Food. Too. Much. Raw.»

Ekko lunged forward with all his speed.

«Roast!»

Jayce barely had time to protect himself with his hammer, to avoid being hit by splinters of concrete, darting in all directions. He looked toward the explosion, worried about the youngster who had boldly moved against it to save his friend.

Nothing to do: the smoke was too thick and could not see anything. Meanwhile, it grew louder the sound of many police sirens approaching. Along with them, a mass of black clouds were piling up just above the small square, driven by a light wind that blew away the smoke caused by the explosion.

A few meters away from the small steaming crater which was opened in the ground, Ekko was staring at the robot with eyes full of anger.

Jinx closely clutched in his arms, he was pressing thoughtfully her head against his chest. When she lifted up her red, big eyes noticed, that Ekko was crying.

«Did you see that bang? Or did the dust entered in your eyes?» she asked, showing a serene and amused smile.

He laid her gently on the ground. Continued to tighten her back with one arm while with his free hand he used wisely an iron pin to free her from the handcuffs that were blocking her wrists.

«Yes...» whispered Ekko, wiping tears away: «Stupid dust. And stupid you, who have agreed to help that madman. I told you to stay away from him. He is everything wrong with Zaun».

«You all right, boy?» shouted Jayce, to overcome the uproar of a not too distant thunder.

Ekko ignored him.

«Go get Fishbones» he said, turned to his companion: «He asked me to take you away from here».

«But then you can hear him too!» said Jinx, ecstatic, happy hopping towards her beloved rocket launcher.

«What is this? Are you running away? We had a deal!» said Jayce incredulously. He had made an agreement with the young Ekko, but he did not seem inclined to honor it.

«Sorry, poster-boy. This is not my town. And remember I told you that Viktor was plotting something here in Piltover, so I'd say we're even.»

«Food. Enough. Speak.»

In front of the two, the robot had finished reloading his weapon. The cannon fired again, to intercept the missile from Jinx directed against it. The bullets clashed against each other and broke into a thunderous explosion. When the dust of the explosion was gone, the two boys of Zaun had disappeared.

«Damn brat!» swore Jayce. But it was no more time to think about the young punk.

«Vi!»

Caitlyn had run at the side of Jayce and the wounded friend. Vi had managed to remove the harpoon that was in the side, but was bleeding profusely.

At that moment came a bunch of tracked drones, followed by an even larger number of

agents of Piltover, that surrounded the perimeter and were awaiting orders.

«Take her away, sheriff. She needs medical attention. I can deal with this pile of junk by myself.»

Tightening his grip on the hammer, Jayce got ready for battle. Meanwhile Caitlyn had helped her

friend to get up and was carrying her toward the group of agents that ran in their direction.

«We need a doctor!» Shouted in chorus a couple of them.

The hero of Piltover tore off from the belt two small mechanical spheres, which threw one on the right and the other on the left of his opponent. The balls lifted up in the air and generated an intense beam of electricity. As he had done many times before, Jayce fired an orb of electricity whose speed and size increased exponentially as soon as came into contact with the energy beam.

The shot found its mark, but the robot had not even a scratch.

He was calm and still. The right arm raised and the barrel mounted on it hot and steaming. Somehow, the creature had managed to dissipate the energy before being damaged.

«Effort. Useless.»

«Useless? Now we shall see. Open fire!» ordered one of the policemen to his team, which had already surrounded the mechanical monster. Several bullets sliced through the air and clashed against the exoskeleton of iron and steel. The robotic head made a noise, attributable to a grim laugh. Inhuman. Lifeless.

After a loud _"BANG"_ those vibrations turned into acute shrieks of pain and anger.

Caitlyn had managed to wound the automaton, firing a precise and powerful shot in the chest of the man on who was mounted the machine. The bullet severed some of the cables, from which began to flow a purple liquid with blue reflections.

The exoskeleton moved jerkily, like a puppet maneuvered awkwardly. The man's hand touched the damaged wires, and the head mounted on the mechanical tentacle struggled in a violent frenzy.

«Revenge! Revenge! Revenge!» shrieked the artificial abomination. It shoot a volley of harpoons at the cops of Piltover, who did not stop target it.

For many of them, the hooks were lethal. Dozens of bloody puddles widened in silence.

It began to rain as the creature threw a grey bullet, perfectly round, in the middle of the square. As soon as it touched the ground, a thick blanket of fog enveloped the area for tens of meters.

Far away, Caitlyn was biting her lip and cursed through clenched teeth: out of the smoke screen she could see nothing of what was happening inside. She also tried to shout the name of Jayce, but no one answered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chaos in the City of Progress** **3/3**

 _«He sprang fast through the puddles, like a predator in the woods, and jumped headlong into the cloud of smoke»_

Surrounded by a world completely gray, the hero of Piltover analyzed the situation. He could hear the cries of the wounded men all around and could clearly see the robot in front of him. Thought it had to be torn down quickly, but could not help wondering what it was that cloud of smoke.

A clump of wet hair fell over his forehead when Jayce lunged forward, toward the acceleration gate he had created earlier. He was used to the electric shocks traveling along his muscles as soon as he crossed it: the body was more and more agile, fast and responsive.

Jayce stroke many mighty hits against the automaton, unable to respond to this furious assault. The weapons mounted on its forearms were suitable to a fight on the distance, but were unable to withstand a valid defense in a short range combat.

The mechanical monster staggered.

Jayce raised the hammer, ready to land the final blow, but at that moment the man who wore the exoskeleton regained consciousness. His eyes were imbued with terror. His face, a mask on which was painted a pleading cry for help.

«Please! Save me!»

The plea of the scientist blocked the action of Jayce. Numbers of thoughts, as many as the raindrops that were falling around him, invaded his mind. How could he save that man? Destroying the exoskeleton that controlled him? What would happen? It could explode?

Unfortunately for him, his hesitation gave the robot time to recover. The long barrel and the gun mounted on its arms changed shape, becoming sharp gloves that tightened around the imprisoned man's hands.

«Stupid. Food. Now. You. Will. Die» declared the creature.

Sharp blades darted forward and stuck in the chest of Jayce, who screamed in pain.

«Sheriff, what's going on in there?»

«I have no idea. Can't hear anything» Caitlyn said, pointing to the smoke. Her gaze in the gun sight, she was ready to shoot as soon as had seen that infernal machine moving. Her attention was suddenly drawn by the screams of some nearby policemen.

«Be careful!»

«It's coming!»

«Move away!»

Caitlyn did not understand what they were referring to until she saw a huge, bestial figure, hunched, whose aspect was hidden under a dark green cloak with a wide hood.

He sprang fast through the puddles, like a predator in the woods, and jumped headlong into the cloud of smoke.

«And what the hell is it?» everyone wondered.

Jayce coughed. Spat blood while the automaton lifted him from the ground.

The cold blades were approaching the ribs. Almost felt the contact of the metal with his bones.

When he fell to the ground, he did not even have the strength to ask what was happening.

The same mysterious figure who had launched fearless in the smoke had engaged a brutal melee fight with the mechanical monster, whose claws tore the cloak, but did not shed a single drop of blood of the expert fighter.

The rain began to roar with greater intensity. Some lightning tore the sky in the distance. And the wind blew harder. Only thanks to it the dense smokescreen that had invaded the square began to thin out.

Caitlyn and all the agents under her command watched incredulous the paladin of Piltover on the ground, wounded, surrounded by so many policemen in even worse conditions. They did not know that he was reduced that way by a reckless act of human compassion towards the unfortunate scientist, who was the victim of that evil exoskeleton.

Moreover, with great surprise of all present, the threat had been defeated by the hooded champion. The machine was forced to the ground, dominated by a being half man and half wolf. Water dripped from thick tufts of blue hair, and pattering on the heavy golden armor that he dressed.

A gloomy howl broke the silence.

«Hairy. Food. Let. Me. Go.»

Warwick did not answer. He gave the automaton an evil smile, exposing the sharp teeth.

«What are you doing here in Piltover, manhunter?» Caitlyn asked, firing a bullet of intimidation.

Once again, the wolf remained silent. Grinding his teeth with wicked delight, inhaling the sweet, pungent smell of blood hovering around.

He howled a second time. Stronger than before. He tore the mechanical tentacle from the spine of the exoskeleton. The lights on the rough robotic face were extinguished and so did the consciousness of the machine, or rather, the program that infused in it a semblance of life.

The automaton was repaired several days later.

It was reactivated in a two-storey laboratory, surrounded only by flashing lights and cold, inert metal.

«That's what has been agreed.»

«Very good. It was a pleasure doing business with you» snarled Warwick before moving away down a narrow, dark hallway.

«Let's get back to us, Rewdan» said an arrogant voice, to the rhythm of a rod hitting loudly on the metal plates of a raised platform: «Who knew a mediocre scientist of Piltover such as you would be able to steal my latest prototype?».

The bald man shook his head to recover, then looked up. The terror began to attack him when he realized where he was, and had been immobilized with strong restrictions on some sort of operating table.

«You took my latest masterpiece, an exoskeleton intelligent, an engineering marvel, and you have made it a slave of human flesh!»

«Viktor...» gasped Rewdan: «I swear... I do not...».

The scientist of Zaun, leader of the Glorious Evolution, interrupted him with a wave of his hand. His eyes, hidden behind an expressionless iron mask, were turned down with disdain.

«Spare me at least your excuses. I don't know yet why the prototype has associated humans with food. It is the logic of a parasite! Unworthy of an advanced machine!»

«What will you do to me?» Rewdan asked, any hope of salvation long gone.

The brilliant inventor grinned smugly. That question was the prelude to the explanation of his grand plan. There is nothing that an egocentric megalomaniac desire more than expose his delusions.

«Nothing too complicated. I have soldered your primitive arts to my creation, and have padded explosive charges that will reduce you to crumbs if for some reason Chaos-000001 should be deactivated.»

Barely moving the head, Redwan watched his body. He could not see the burns and the scars that the intervention of Viktor had left, now hidden by a surface layer of processed steel, but he felt the flesh of his arms and legs fused with the exoskeleton he was wearing.

First, he shouted with all the breath in his body, then cried in tears.

«Precisely» continued the genius of Zaun: «The prototype you've stolen was the first in a series of one hundred thousand intelligent exoskeletons. So I have baptized it Chaos-000001».

The automated tentacle moved sinuously, and the robotic head humbly thanked its creator.

«I'm a monster» sobbed Rewdan.

«Yes. You are» Viktor replied: «Seeing flesh, bones and blood connected to my prototype disgusts me. I tried to separate you from the machine to ... well ... kill you. But I did not succeed without damaging the control cables and the support cord. So I opted for an alternative solution».

«YOU HAVE SOLDERED ME TO A MACHINE! YOU ARE THE MONSTER!»

«AND YOU ARE A THIEF!»

After the yelling, tempers placated quickly. The scientist of Piltover no longer had the energy to fight against his cruel fate, and Viktor counted the seconds, beating them with his rod, waiting for the question that came soon after. There were words he was anxiously waiting to hear.

«What will happen to me now?»

The king of the inventors remained impassive, but every fiber of his being screamed: _"Victory!"_.

«You know, Rewdan, actually there's a chance for you to survive. I can separate you from the exoskeleton Chaos-000001, so as I joined you to it.»

The man's eyes gleamed with a new light. The hope contained in the poisonous words of Viktor had already conquered him.

«But you must eliminate its attachment to meat. If you do this for me, I will be able to create new models of Chaos, and mount them on a much more robust structure of fragile human bodies. And you will be free, at last. We both will have something to rejoice!»

The metal bands that blocked Rewdan snapped open, and he stood up. He did not realize that his release involved the obligation to accept the proposal of Viktor. A myriad of conflicting feelings stirred within him like a stormy sea: despair, relief, pain, fear. And last, doubt.

«How am I going to do what you ask, if not even you've been able to succeed?"

It arrived, at last. The culmination of his grand plan: Viktor had deliberately allowed the prototype was stolen, and now had a guinea pig that would've tested its potential against the strongest warriors of Valoran. The summoners would've never voluntarily tested his device, but a desperate man in need of help? Oh, yes! To such a person, they would not have turned their backs.

«I'm sure you know about the League of Legends. Maybe someone there will be able to help you.»


End file.
